Loving Heart (The Broken Heart Series Book 3) (19 page)

“I need to leave.” I pushed him and barely moved.

“I’m sorry. You can’t.” He demanded.

“Move out of the way Max.” I pushed him harder against his stomach. He was so tall.

“Mrs. Hunter…Calm the fuck down!” he barked. I stood silent and still. My heart was beating against my chest…hard. “Come with me.” He grabbed my arm tightly and threw me into a room down the hall. “Shut up and be a good girl, otherwise, you might get a good thrashing.” he moaned to himself as he leaned his body against mine. “You like to get slapped and choked, don’t you?”, as he slid his hand between my legs. I pushed him away.

“How dare you!” I shouted.

“Every room has a camera you know. You’ve been his special dish for the last three weeks. You must be special…Here’s a video of the woman who came before you,” he turned on the television that hung on the wall and the video displayed Nick slamming into some woman from behind, but when she turned around, and the camera zoomed in, I almost threw up in my mouth. I recognized her…
It was Cassandra
. I gasped for air and covered my mouth with my hand. I didn’t want Max to realize that I knew her, but it was too late.

“Familiar face? We get a lot of that around here.” he chuckled. “Sit tight, I need to go break up a fight.” He closed and locked the door behind him. I stared at the video that was paused at Cassandra’s face. I pressed the remote and rewound the video. My eyes stood glued to the television until I saw
her.
I closed my eyes tightly. God help me…I had to be seeing things. No…no…it couldn’t be. Please, no…Oh God…no…
Margaret?
I dropped the remote on the floor watching Nick sliding his tongue down her stomach and in between her thighs.
Oh God…I was going to be sick.
I ran towards the small garbage can in the corner and puked my brains out.
She was here before she was murdered. Did Nick kill her? Was he involved?
I had to get out of the room as quickly as possible. But before I could do it, the door slammed opened.

“Hurry up!” Michael said. “They’re both unconscious. They’ll be waking up soon. The whacking I gave them both on their head with my gun won’t last long.” My eyes widened.
Gun?

“Jesus, Michael…I,” He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the door.

“Move! Let’s go!” He was practically dragging me across the hallway. I couldn’t get my feet to run as fast as my heart.

We ran out the door leaving a trail of dust behind us. We jumped into his truck and sped off almost crashing into the trees that lined the road of the driveway.

“Michael, I …”

“Not now Jenesis…I saw it with my own eyes…I’m going to pretend I didn’t.”

“I think he drugged me Michael.” I was sobbing hysterically.

“I can’t think right now…please.” he uttered.

“I was dizzy, nauseous.” He glanced over at me.

“Not now.”

“What did I do, Michael? I don’t remember.” I lowered my head with regret coursing through my veins. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but Cassandra was in that house a few weeks ago and Michael…Margaret…Margaret was in the video.”

“Just be quiet Jenesis, please. I’m so angry right now I could crash this car into a tree.” I stared at him speechless. I lowered my head and did what I was told. Michael drove full speed away from the mansion going through stop signs and swerving like a maniac on the slippery roads as it began to rain. I sat back in the passenger seat and buckled up.

We stopped at the nearest hotel. I opened the door to get out and he was ten steps ahead of me. He walked into the lobby first. I had a massive headache and I was still nauseous.

“Why are we here?” I asked nervously.

“Because the first place he’s going to look for us is at my house. Now let’s go.” Michael grabbed me by the arm forcefully, but not enough to hurt me. We approached the front desk. He pulled out his wallet.

“Welcome to the holiday Inn Express, how can I help you?” The young man asked as he smiled.

“I need a room.” Michael said sharply.

“Single or double bed?” he asked as he typed on the keyboard.

“It doesn’t fucking matter!” He barked.

The young man at the desk was startled.  I grabbed Michael by his arm and he shrugged me off. He used his business card and charged it to his account. He didn’t have cash and there was no ATM at this hotel. I dropped my purse in the mansion. I didn’t have a pot to piss in. I wanted to rest. I was still groggy and the headache was relentless. At least we would be able to rest without crashing into a tree on the road tonight.

“Thanks.” Michael said softly, “I’m sorry man.” He grabbed his credit card and the card to the room. I followed him as he walked towards the elevator.

“Are you going to act like this all night?” I asked.

“Just leave me alone…please?” he whispered.

“Michael…I” I started to speak when he cut me off.

“Goddammit Jenesis…I need to get upstairs in one piece…please, just leave me the fuck alone…please.” he whispered through gritted teeth. His eyes welled with tears. One false move and I knew he would do something foolish. I shut my mouth and did what he said.

The elevator door opened and we both stepped in reminding me of the day Michael stole my heart. Here we are, two and a half years later, trying to hold it together. I don’t know what happened between Nick and I. I didn’t even want to think about. All I knew is that I woke up naked in his bed and Michael saw it. I thought about Joe. I needed talk to him and Kate. 

We arrived on the fifth floor and Michael slid the card to unlock the door. I stepped in behind him and he turned around to look at me. The fury in his eyes said it all. He was trembling and finally the tears streamed down his face.

“When this is over, I never want to see you again.” he said sternly, the tears trailing down his face over his heart shaped lips. The baby kicked me again as I approached him. “Don’t.” he whispered.

“Michael, you have to hear me out. I was drugged. I would never cheat on you with Nick…or anyone else for that matter.” I pleaded.

“Hear you out? You were in bed with him. You had your leg draped over him as if you were married to him for years. You let him touch you…taste you…inside of you.” He sat on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair. Then he looked up at me. “Do you understand what you’ve done to me?” I took a step back “Do you!” he yelled. “Every ounce of love I had for you stayed in that mansion…in that room, when I saw you in his arms, when you held him back. My fucking heart is bleeding.” he slammed his hands on the desk.

“I didn’t sleep with him Michael. He.Drugged.Me. I don’t know what happened.” I whispered, almost afraid to open my mouth.

“You expect me to believe that?” he barked.

“Please…please listen.” I begged. Michael cried into his hands shaking his head.

“Why did you do it? Do you think I’m a killer? Do you believe Nick? Do you?” He whispered into his hands.

“I…I didn’t do anything…He drugged me. He gave some tea and I drank it. That’s all I remember. I don’t think you want to kill me. Maybe I did before. I don’t know…this is all so confusing.” I sobbed into my hands.

“Dammit Jenesis, I’m your husband, if I haven’t killed you yet, what am I waiting for?” he shouted as he grabbed the lamp and threw it across the room smashing it against the wall.

“What?” I cried.

“Well, that’s what you want me to say isn’t it? That I’m going to kill you, maybe rape you while you’re pregnant?” He shook his head. “I love you…I’ve always loved you…and no one else, just you.” he shook his head and placed his hands over his face, then he looked up at me. “I’ve been faithful to you…why? Why did you do this to me?” He cried silently into his hands and sobbed like a child. I thought I would die.

“I didn’t do anything. How could you believe that I slept with him when you know how much I love you. Your father raped me and I still stood with you. I’m pregnant and I don’t know who the father is and I still stood with you. You knew the animal your father was and you let him hurt me…and I’m still here. How could you…” I whispered.

“Please…just leave me alone.” He whispered.

I sat on the edge of the bed feeling as if I were going to die. I loved Michael so much and now I’ve destroyed the only thing we had left,
trust
. He got up and walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. I crawled underneath the blanket and held onto the pillow and cried silently as my heart broke into a million pieces. Out of everything that happened to me, even the rape, having Michael distrust me, thinking that I’ve been with another man, hurt more than anything. I’ve sacrificed everything to love him and now…I lost him.

                    Chapter 18      Michael

I woke up on the chair near the window. The sun peeped into the room through the broken blinds shining across the hotel room floor, warming the carpet underneath my feet. My neck was aching from the position I had slept in last night. I was tired. I was broken. My cell phone vibrated in my suit jacket. I walked across the room to the closet and grabbed it. A message from Joe.

Michael, is everything okay?

Joe

I rubbed my eyes gently and responded.

We’re on a short vacation. We’ll be back tomorrow.

Michael

Jenesis slept comfortably, her breast swollen and perky as she laid on her back with her hand on her belly, the blanket covering her perfectly underneath her baby bump. Her black soft curls were sprawled along the pillow and her beautiful lips pursed up as she took slow, shallow, sleepy breaths. I sat on the chair again staring at her as she moved back and forth. She looked like she was having a nightmare. She jumped up screaming.

“No! Michael!” she turned and looked at me her breasts exposed and her belly bump grew before my eyes. She clenched her pillow and turned her face embarrassed at the sudden outburst. I got up and walked over to the bathroom. I couldn’t look at her while she sat there on the bed naked and awake. I wanted to kill Nick and my anger did not subside. I brushed my teeth with the complimentary toothbrush from the hotel and threw cold water on my face. I clenched my fists thinking about Nick’s mouth on my wife.
I wondered what they did.
I was so angry at her I was afraid I was going to lose control.

“Michael?” I heard her say.

“Yeah?” I responded coldly.

“Can we talk?” Her voice was anxious but I ignored her.

“I can’t.” I shook my head and looked away.

“Please, Michael…please.” she approached me and I stepped back. Our eyes met for a brief moment but I couldn’t stand the pain in my heart so I looked away.

“We have to leave…please get dressed.” I said quickly.

We got dressed in separate rooms. I stayed in the bathroom and she in the bedroom. The silence was deafening and I could only hear the pain of my beating heart. We walked out of the room towards the elevator. We waited silently. I could see her from the corner of my eye. She was rubbing her belly and she looked like she was in pain.

“Are you alright?” I asked concerned.

“Yeah…I’m fine.” she answered softly. The elevator opened and we both stepped in. She pressed for the lobby. The silence was killing me but I refused to speak. I loved her. I loved her more than she would ever know, but I needed her to understand…this was the worst thing she could’ve ever done to me.

We exited the hotel and turned towards the back of the parking lot. We parked so far last night. I didn’t realize how far back we were until now. It was in the early morning hours and the fog was as dense as it was last night. It was so thick you could hardly see in front of you. We walked over to my truck and before we could step in it, we were greeted by Nick and a very tall butler. Max had a bandage around his head and Nick had a swollen black eye. I grabbed Jenesis’ hand and held it tightly. She glanced up at me.

“What are you doing here?”  I eyed Nick up and down. I didn’t have a gun. Somewhere between the mansion and here my anger got the best of me and I lost it.

“Jen is in protective custody Michael. You can’t kidnap her.” Nick said without smiling. His look of death towards me was evident but, I could give two shits. He was ready to fight and I was ready to throw the first punch.

“She’s not leaving with you or your bodyguard. This isn’t an official protective custody. I’ve spoken to Marquis. He wasn’t even in the country when Cassandra was killed. Who do you think you’re fooling?” I said arrogantly.

“Michael, make this hard, make this easy. It’s up to you.” Nick said sarcastically.

“Don’t threaten me you son of a bitch! You think drugging Jenesis is the way to get to her heart. I know she loves me! and I know she doesn’t love you! Your making this shit up about Marquis and if you don’t leave now, I’m calling the police!” I shouted.

“I am the police asshole! Hand her over Michael, Now!”  Nick stood motionless for a moment, almost pensively. I could see him thinking hard about something. Jenesis squeezed my hand and I looked at her. She looked up at me with those beautiful hazel eyes and today…was the day I would save her life again, even if it meant I would end mine.